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Great, simple and efficient

My grandma is in her late eighties and spends most of her time in her home, so the telephone is a bit of a lifeline to her. Her eyesight and dexterity is not what it used to be and she was getting frustrated and a little upset as she was having trouble using her standard telephone.

I therefore decided to buy her this Optimum big button telephone and she is absolutely over the moon with it, it has made a massive difference in her ability to still feel independent. The numbers on it are so large that it serves two great purposes - it's far easier for people with failing eyesight to be able to see the buttons clearly, but also makes pressing the buttons a far easier job for the elderly. It sounds so simple but it really has made a massive difference to my gran's confidence as she no longer feels vulnerable - before I think she knew that if anything happened or she needed to contact someone in an emergency then she would struggle, but now it can be achieved with maximum ease. This is helped by the fact that the phone has the ability to store a number which means a person can be contacted via a single button. The phone holds only 10 numbers but to be honest, for my gran and probably many older people, this is more than enough. Close family, friends or emergency contacts can be stored on the phone. It is super simple to set up and use so anyone less than confident with technology won't have a problem.

Other features on this phone are few yet simple and handy. There is a volume switch on the side of the phone which controls the speaker and the ringer volume. There are only two settings - low and high - but it's simple, straightforward and effective. There is also a light at the top of the phone that flashes when it's ringing so this acts as an extra alert if the television is on for example. The phone is supplied with a bracket for wall mounting if desired, though to be honest we haven't used this as my gran prefers it on her living room table. If she has the desire to use the hands-free facility it is then easy for her to reach whilst sitting in her chair.

For an amazingly small price of £10.99 Argos have managed to produce a very simple yet effective telephone which serves its purpose brilliantly - and has made my gran a very happy lady!

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Would recommend 4/5

This telephone was actually bought for my mentally handycap Auntie. Don't be fooled by the less unfornunate people that was brough into this world with a disability, as sometimes they have better ideas that what we do. This was proved when my Auntie Christine decided to tell that this is telephone that she wanted. When we tried to explain to her that she wouldn't be able to actually dial peoples telephone numbers to call us she started laughing. We couldn't understand what was so funny until she replied "Your so silly, you can put peoples pictures on the numbers so that i know who i am calling" Why didn't we think of that? No wonder she was laughing.

As you can see from the pricture that numbers are rather large, large enough to stick on a cut of out friends and families photos onto each button. What we done was we set up the memory so for instance she would press M then the picture of the person she wanted to call, and it would automatically call the person that she wanted. This idea was not only great for my Auntie Christine but also a great idea for those who have dimentia. The buttons are large enough to see for those who do not have fantatic eye sight or even those with artheritus or perhaps people with parkinsons who struggle with small fiddely buttons on previous telephones.

I purchused this from Argos for a fantatsic price of £9.99. In terms of appearance, the Opticom Big Button Corded Telephone has a large base unit measuring roughly 22 x 16 centimetres and it can be mounted on a wall if desired. It isn't the prettiest of telephones but it is certainally not the worst either, it is a plastic look to it but once we put the pictures on the large numbers it desguised it a little. The buttons on the telephone measure at 3 x 3.5 cm so as you can see the buttons really are quite large and the numbers printed on them are also large so seeing them is much easier than normally sied buttons on a phone and pressing them is less fidgety.

This large buttoned telephone has a red flashing indicator which flashes when someone call you. It has a 10 number memory for storing your favorite people that you wish to speak to. This was great for my Auntie as we put on the family photos of who she was calling and also a 999 button incase of emergancy, as my Auntie doesn't know that many people the 10 number memory was more than enough for her. You have the choise of using a speakerphone option if you want to which is easy to use as you only have to press the large green speaker button before making a call and also the usual standard last number redial and mute button as well. As well as being useful for those who cannot see, it is also useful for those who cannot hear very well as it is compatible with hearing aids. The sound quality is rather impressive, the volume is loud enough for those who are hard of hearing. However, the speaker phone option isn't just as clear, which is unfortunate for people who may use this option but for my Auntie this wasn't an issue as she didn't know what it was for as we didn't want to confuse her too much with all these new buttons. The ringer itself it loud and pretty clear, you can hear it all the way from upstairs when it plugged in down staris. If you wish to change the the volume setting to high ot low you and do this by flipping a switch on the back of the telephone base.

Not only do I think that the price for this product is fantatsic value for money but also the telephone itself is excellent. I would highly recommend the Opticom Big Button Corded Telephone which is a wonderful device for those who are struggling with their vision, hearing or those that are disabled that need someone to preprograme the telephone and put on pitures on people like I done for my Auntie I would rate this telephone a 4 out of 5, reason that I am not giving full marks is for the speaker phone let down. Although this will never be used in my Auntie house, for those who do buy this telephone that may use it, may not be fully happy with the quality of this function. My Auntie Christine is very happy with her telephone and happy that she has the indipendance to be able to make calls for herself, however as much we (all the family) like hearing from her, she has got rather phone friendly and phones us at least 5 times a day.

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Great phone for the visually impaired

For any elderly lady with failing eyesight, a big-buttoned phone is a must. It probably hasn't escaped your attention that i'm *not actually* an elderly lady with failing eyesight - but I do have a Gran who is. I bought the 'Opticom Big Button Corded Telephone' for her (also known as the 'B90'... the phone that is, not my gran...), so phoning, which had become difficult in the last couple of years, would be a little easier.

Price and Design- - - - - - - - - - -Costing £9.99 from Argos, the Opticom has a large base unit measuring 21 x 17 centimetres. Even though it's fairly sizable in terms of its dimensions, the device is fully wall mountable of you so desire. In terms of its appearance, the white and plasticky B300 isn't the prettiest telephone on the market - but then it has been designed to be as functional as possible, leaving form trailing behind in a distant second. The buttons on the phone really are huge, with each one measuring 3 x 3.5 cms - their size not only makes seeing them incredibly easy, but also makes pressing the wrong one virtually impossible.

Additional Features & Audio Quality- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -The phone has a red flashing indicator which illuminates when someone calls, and also a ten memory number for storing your favourite digits. There's a speakerphone option (accessed by pushing the large green speaker button before you make a call), and the standard last number redial and mute buttons. It's also important to note that the product is compatible with inductively coupled hearing aids. Regarding the sound quality, the B300 returns an impressive clarity through the handset, and the volume should be plenty loud enough for those who are hard of hearing. The speakerphone option isn't quite as clear, but it's as good as BT's (more expensive) Big Button Phone which i've also used. The ringer is clear and loud, and has a low and high volume setting which can be changed by flipping a switch on the back of the base.

Final Word- - - - - - - -Overall, I would highly recommend the Opticom Big Button Corded Telephone which is an excellent device for those who are struggling with their vision. The price means that the phone is accessible to all, and you won't go too far wrong with the generally impressive sound quality.